'Black Lightning' Star Cress WIlliams on Whether You'll See the Classic Costume on TV

Earlier today, audiences got their first look at what Thunder will look like when she comes to [...]

Earlier today, audiences got their first look at what Thunder will look like when she comes to Black Lightning -- but some fans are still lamenting that the Black Lightning suit does not look as "comics-accurate" as they might like. Could they see a different take on Jefferson Pierce's costume down the line? Series star Cress Williams thinks so.

In the context of the series, Black Lightning is coming back from a period of retirement when the show starts. That means, presumably, that along the way there is room to have another look for the character. Williams already shot down the idea of a "flashback 'fro," but during an interview on the set of Black Lightning, ComicBook.com asked the actor about the possibility of seeing a different costume in the past than the present.

"If you see the flashbacks of me, and I imagine you'll probably see them at some point, yeah," Williams said. "Yeah. Most definitely."

Trailers for the series have depicted a scene from the pilot -- a flashback, but one in which Jefferson Pierce is not in costume but at home, clinging to life after a hard night of fighting crime as Black Lightning. Whether audiences will get more of that night at some point or not is, as of now, anybody's guess.

Yet to be determined is also whether fans will get to see how China Anne McClain, who plays Jennifer Pierce, will take on the role of Lightning this season -- and if so, what her look will be. For much of her comics history, Lightning has been depicted as an energy being with a look that would be difficult to translate to a world as grounded as what Black Lightning appears to have. More recently, a more traditionally-superheroic look she sports on DC Super Hero Girls might work a little better.

"[Jefferson and his ex-wife] hadn't talked about it at all," Williams told ComicBook.com about the odds of his character's daughters getting powers. "We didn't really know where my powers came from, and so we couldn't really imagine that they would have powers. It's really a mix between pride, and fear, because with great powers comes great responsibility, and I've seen the toll that it's had on my life."

Black Lightning will premiere on January 16th at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, following the midseason premiere of The Flash.

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